S ebastien Gendron has a vision: a goal of having a commercial prototype of an aluminum pod capable of transporting passengers comfortably on an air cushion driven by linear induction motors and air compressors inside of a low-pressure tube at approximately 350 miles per hour by 2020 — enabling them to travel from Montreal to Toronto in 30 minutes.
If the founder of Transpod — which was launched in Toronto last year — has it his way, the collaboration of his company with the University of Toronto will ensure that that vision becomes a reality, according to this article posted at the official Internet web site of Canadian Broadcasting Corporation News. A prototype of this technology will supposedly be presented at InnoTrans — the largest rail show in the world — which will occur in Berlin from Tuesday, September 20, 2016 through Friday, September 23, 2016.
“The objective is to get a better customer experience than what you can experience on an airplane or a train. Something smooth, so people won’t really feel a difference or feel like they’re in a tube,” Gendron said; and with significant consolidation in the commercial aviation industry over the past ten years, passengers — especially frequent fliers — who are seeking disruptive technologies to offer viable alternatives could imagine the potential possibilities of what could be considered good news.
Elon Musk — a billionaire who founded both SpaceX and Tesla — outlined a transportation system concept in 2013 called Hyperloop, which promises to be an alternative to existing modes of transportation. Hyperloop would be super fast but with low friction — and offer potentially higher performance but at a lower overall cost. Musk envisions passengers eventually being transported between cities at high speed throughout North America using Hyperloop technology.
Summary
This concept is very similar to an evacuated tube transport system on which I first reported back on Saturday, June 8, 2013. There was supposed to have been a demonstration tube of three miles at 375 miles per hour at a cost of $10,000,000.00 to be recovered in a year as an amusement ride costing $25.00 per ride — which would have been significantly less expensive than riding on what is currently the fastest roller coaster in the world — but apparently, that goal had not been realized. This attempt will hopefully not experience a similar fate.
Although not nearly as fast as this disruptive technology which could purportedly have the potential to travel from New York to London in only eleven minutes, it is welcoming to see an assortment of new technologies — such as tubes which are to carry passengers at high speeds — being imagined and presented.
The only issue is which of these new technologies will eventually become reality.
Source: Transloop via Canadian Broadcasting Corporation News.
